10 BILLIONAIRES THAT ROSE FROM GRASS TO GRACE

It is no more surprising to note that there are currently about 1,826 billionaires on earth which is a great improvement from 2014 data which recorded 1,645 of them.

However, what is most surprising to note is that a good number of these billionaires are actually self made; working to reach their current billionaire status, although it is a very good thing to inherit a fortune to the tune of billions, the list below shows 10 of some of the self made billionaires and their sources of wealth, and also serves to prove that just about anyone can make it to that list with the right amount of hardwork, effort and innovation

10. Michael Rubin

He is an American e-commerce and sports entrepreneur, he is the founder and C.E.O of kinetic. He ventured into business quite early opening a ski shop, and by the time he was 16, he was already about $200,000 in debt, however, like most billionaires on the list he dropped out of the university to exploit his business sense, and in 2011, he sold his company GSI commerce at the cost of $2.4billion, the company runs and develops online shopping sites for stores. He has a net worth $2.7billion.

9. Mark Cuban

He is an internet billionaire and owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team, landmark theatres as well as the HDTV cable network AXSTV chairman. He first ventured into business at the age of 12 selling garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoe ,and like the rest of the self-made billionaires ,he gradually worked his way up until he started the company micro solutions which was initially a software reseller and system integrator. He is worth $3billion.

8. Jeff Sutton

He is a new York real estate developer who started his real estate business without proper funding, his strategy was to get a customer who would specify a preferred location for their shop, he would then go ahead and offer to buy out the lease from the location’s existing tenant and in some cases he would buy out the landlord, and use the signed lease as financial security support for financing the buying on the property. He has a net worth of $3.2billion.

7. Sheldon solow

He is an American real estate developer who was born and raised in Brooklyn. In the 1970’s, after dropping out of new York university, he obtained financing to develop a 50 story office building which still has a very good view to the central park. He is largely a private art collector. He is worth $3.6billion and still remains in possession of very expensive and acclaimed paintings.

6. Diane Hendricks

Currently the second richest self made female billionaire, she was the daughter of a dairy farmer. She is the owner and chairman of ABC supply which is the largest distributor of roofing, and windows which she cofounded with her husband Kenneth Hendricks, she is also the owner and C.E.O of Hendricks holding company which is made up of several small companies. She has a strong commitment to philanthropy and though she had a humble beginning, she has been a part of several philanthropic projects. She is worth $3.6billion.

5. Elizabeth Holmes

Currently the world’s youngest female billionaire at the age of 31, she is worth $4.6billion, and like every other person on the list, she is self made. She is the founder of “Theranos”, a blood test company which she founded in 2003 while she was 19. According to her, her motivation came after she lost her uncle to cancer, this later spurred her to drop out of Stanford University and immerse herself into the research and development of a cheap and effective blood test type that could help with early detection of diseases, the company itself is worth over $9billion.

4. Roman Abramovich

He is a perfect example of the “rags to riches” story, currently worth over $9billion, he is best known as the “owner of Chelsea football club” and also a large oil magnate. Quickly orphaned at the tender age of 2, he was brought up by his uncle. He showed great business acumen and while he was a student, he had set up a toy company, by the age of 30; he was already very rich and politically influential in Russia. In year 2003, he became the owner of Chelsea football club, June of the same year, he assumed office as governor of Chukota which he later went on to donate over $140million for the development of its rural areas. He is the owner of Sibneft Company, a major oil producer in the world as well as several other smaller enterprises.

3. Mark zuckerberg

The tech giant, computer programmer and self-made billionaire is the owner of popular social network Facebook and he is worth $42.5billion he founded facebook in the year 2004 alongside four other people, currently facebook has acquired under it 4 more tech organization which are subsidiaries to facebook, they include Instagram, Whatsapp, Oculus VR and Private Core.

2. Amancio Ortega

He is the second richest man in the world with a net worth of $78billion, and founding chairman of Inditex fashion group which produces the globally recognized “Zara Clothing”. Born in Spain to a railway worker, he got his first job as a shop hand at the age of 14 in a local shirt maker’s store called gala in La Coruna, it was from this point he got the idea of starting his own stores and getting his product by organizing local women into sewing for him. The low profile lover currently has over 92,000 workers worldwide under Inditex group.

1. Bill Gates

With a current net worth of $80bilion which leaves a gap of about $12billion between himself and the closest billionaire, he has successfully put his name on this list. Having distinguished himself by his keen interest in programming quite early in life, he was initially enroute studying law when his love for the “machine” that is able to perfectly execute command towed him through a different lane. In 1987, Gates emerged on Forbes 400 billionaires a few days before he was 31, he was then the youngest self-made billionaire having a net worth of $1.25billion. His source of wealth is Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway